MY TOP THREES OF 2016 – SIMON ZACCAGNI

These are three of my favourites in each category, not a top 1, 2 and 3 like in a chart.

GIGS

Wild Billy Childish & CTMF at The Lexington: 21st May

This was a brilliant day, and one the wife and I had been really looking forward to. We used to go and watch Billy Childish together down in London (he very rarely plays anywhere else) whenever he played, but after the birth of his child with bass player and wife Nurse Julie he stopped gigging for a while. On this day he was doing a matinee show and an evening show, so we went to both. Both shows sold out in minutes and even though we’ve seen him shed loads of times, these two shows were definitely the best.

ELO, Manchester Arena: 22nd June

My introduction to ELO was as a kid in the 70s when my dad was a big fan, I didn’t really take much notice back then, but in later years I’d hear them again and realise why he liked them so much. Even though I’m not a fan of arena gigs I went anyway just to see them really, but bloody hell was the show good. Jeff Lynn isn’t a rock star at all, just comes across as a humble Brummy lad, but his songs and voice were simply fantastic.

The Lovely Eggs/The Hornblower Brothers, Gorilla: 4th November

Easily two of my favourite bands from the last decade. The Lovely Eggs I’ve seen countless times and it never gets boring, ever. The Hornblower Brothers, I’d seen once almost seven years ago. They released a few songs back then and then entered a hiatus but came back again this year (one of the best things to happen in 2016 apart from getting married of course). When I saw that the two bands were playing together I was over the moon, it was one of those gigs where your face hurts by the end of the night from smiling.

ALBUMS

SURVIVE – RR7349

I did something that most people in 2016 did and decided to watch the TV show Stranger Things. It must have been only 10 minutes into the first episode and I was already looking up who had done the music, it turned out it was two members of SURVIVE. This album is one of those I know I’ll never get bored of listening to.

Not exactly an album, but seeing they put this collection of songs on Bandcamp I’ve decided it loosely fits the category. 13 tracks of sheer bliss for me and can’t wait for them to record more and more.

The Bongolian – Moog Maximus

This is the 5th album from multi-instrumentalist and Big Boss Man front man Nasser Bouzida and I can’t get enough of it. This is good times and party music and for once a press release got it right by describing the music as ‘a wildly eclectic fusion of Funk, Soul, Hammond Beat, Jazz and Sci-Fi Boogaloo.’

TRACKS

Cabbage – Uber Capitalist Death Trade

Being an old punk at heart, albeit a second generation punk from the early eighties, I find it hard to listen to new bands just replicating what went before, but Cabbage have a punk sound that is actually quite fresh without just harking back to the golden years. It’s fun and it’s raucous but most importantly they’re not wearing a big anarchy sign patch on their back. Their first EP came out this year closely followed by several others and each is as good as the last. Can’t wait to see what 2017 brings.

Henge – Valerian Tea

You want fun, you want weird, then Henge are your band. Just watch the video to this track and it’ll give you a glimpse of what this band are all about.

Martin Creed – Let’s Come To An Arrangement

Martin Creed? Martin Creed the Turner Prize winning artist? Yes the very same one. His 2016 album Thoughts Lined Up (the track is from this album) is 24 tracks of mostly short little ditties. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but this encapsulates the feel of the album in one track.

‘Accidental Editor’ None of this was planned; I’ve never been in a band, never been part of the ‘music scene’ and never expected to be the gaffer of a music website with loads of dedicated music loving writers. I bought my first record when I was 8 and haven’t stopped buying since. I love crate digging for bizarre and weird stuff, but equally happy ploughing through press releases looking/listening for something I’ve never heard before.